Top diabetes doctor for the Queen and Prince Philip: Expert in hormone-related illness joins Royal team

When one of the Queen’s top physicians, Professor Huw Thomas, was promoted to a new position last month, he left behind the highly sought-after vacancy of Physician to the Royal Household, a key role on Her Majesty’s medical team.

Now I can reveal the job has been filled by a leading specialist in the study of endocrinology and diabetes.

William Drake, professor of endocrinology and clinical endocrinology at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, was hired by the Palace last month, joining an existing team of physicians to the Royal Household.

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Royal doc: Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh have hired Professor William Drake, a diabetes expert, to care for their medical needs

As part of his role, he will attend to both the Queen and Prince Philip, who has suffered bouts of severe illness in recent years.

A spokesman for the Palace refused to comment on the details of Prof Drake’s appointment, but said his expertise was ‘needed’ to widen the medical knowledge within the Royal Household.

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She said: ‘Royal physicians are appointed for their wide-ranging skills and abilities. Prof Drake is one of a number of consultants, all of whom are picked because they have different areas of expertise, and William’s area of expertise was needed to create a wide variety of medical knowledge.

‘Just because he has been brought in does not mean there is a specific requirement.’

While each doctor boasts their own expertise, it is thought to be the first time a physician with a specialism in this kind of field has been employed by Her Majesty.

New expert: It is thought to be the first time a physician with a specialism in diabetes has been employed by the Queen, pictured at Balmoral on Thursday

In August 2012, Prince Philip, 93, spent five nights in Aberdeen’s Royal Infirmary for treatment for a bladder infection, two months after he was admitted to King Edward VII’s Hospital Sister Agnes – one of three facilities where Prof Drake currently practises – for the same condition.

In June last year, he spent 11 days in the London Clinic – another of Prof Drake’s bases – where he underwent an exploratory operation on his abdomen.

While it is not known if Prof Drake oversaw any of the treatments, a source close to the Palace tells me it is likely he is fully aware of the Prince’s medical history. ‘All physicians who work at the Palace and who attend to the Royal Household will be aware of any existing medical conditions,’ the source said. ‘They need to be completely up to speed on the medical history of their patients.’

At the Palace, Prof Drake joins a team including Dr Tim Evans, Apothecary to the Royal Household, and Prof Thomas, who was promoted to the Head of the Medical Household.

Endocrinology deals with the glands that secrete hormones into the circulatory system.

The 'duchess of poison' wants you for dinner...

Murder mystery: Jane Percy, the Duchess of Northumberland

The Duchess of Northumberland will reveal some of her poisonous secrets when she hits the high seas on a new cruise ship tour.

She has teamed up with Fred Olsen Cruises to create a Poisons, Murder And Mystery cruise, during which guests will stop off at Jane’s unique ‘poison garden’ at her family’s Alnwick Castle estate, during their voyage from Edinburgh to the Canaries.

Passengers in £6,399 premier berths get the chance to dine with the Duchess, 56, who says mysteriously: ‘I’ve figured out how I’d poison my husband, Ralph.’

She adds: ‘And he says to kill me he would catch a salmon, freeze it, hit me over the head with it and eat it!’

Is Prince Harry’s bad-boy chum Guy Pelly finally turning over a new leaf?

I’m told that Guy, 32, who was found guilty of drink-driving last month, is turning his attention away from his portfolio of London nightspots to open a number of upmarket fitness centres.

‘He will open a few gyms across London, in the same sort of areas as his clubs,’ a source confirmed.